EE 407 : Microfabrication

Course Number

EE 407

Course

Microfabrication

University Catalog Description

Semesters offered: S

3 credit: 2 lecture, 1 lab

Prerequisites: Phys 212 or Phys 206.

Fabrication of MOS semiconductor devices. Clean room protocol, chemical safety and fabrication techniques

Faculty Coordinator

Todd J. Kaiser

Prerequisites by Topic

Basic Physics.

Textbook

Fabrication Engineering at the Micro- and Nanoscale, by S. Campbell, Oxford, 2008.

Course Objectives

This course introduces the student to the clean room, teaches them the proper safety procedures and familiarizes them to the fabrication equipment while they produce a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) transistor. The students will be introduced to typical fabrication techniques such as wafer oxidation, diffusion, photolithography and metallization, while they make a 4 inch silicon wafer full of various transistors. The format of the courses will be based on the weekly schedule of two one-hour lectures followed by a three-hour lab period. The weekly lectures will cover the scientific principles of the fabrication techniques that will be applied during the laboratory period. The student will be asked to keep a laboratory journal that includes theoretical predictions developed from the course assignments, process procedures, results from the actual fabrication process runs and conclude with the testing of the fabricated devices.

Course Outcomes

Upon completion, the course should impart to the student:

- An understanding of the physical processes in a material which determine the specifications of a particular electronic device.

- The ability to break a complex electronic materials problem down into smaller pieces, each of which can be more easily solved, with the interactions between each sub-problem clearly identified and quantified.

- An understanding of the limits material properties impose upon electronic device specifications (why doesn’t a diode have zero leakage current, or why does a transistor have to break down, or why can’t a transistor keep getting smaller and an IC more complex?).

- Given a design specification, a student should be able to select a set of candidate materials which can provide a solution for the design problem. From these materials, the student should then be able to find commercially available devices which use these materials.

- Given a set of specifications claimed for a device, a student should be able to confirm the validity of those specifications based on the properties of the materials used in the device and the device geometry.

- An understanding of the statistical nature of electron populations in semiconductors and the quantized statistics associated with current flow.

Topics Covered

1. Overview of Microelectronic Fabrication – Historical perspective – overview of monolithic processes and structures – Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor processes – Safety

2. Lithography – Photolithographic process – Etching techniques – Photomask Fabrication – Exposure sources and systems – Microscope systems

3. Thermal Oxidation of Silicon – Oxidation process – Modeling oxidation – Oxidation rate factors – Properties of thermally grown oxide – Oxide thickness characterization – Oxidation systems

4. Diffusion – Diffusion process – Modeling Diffusion – Junction formation – Diffusion Simulation – Diffusion systems

5. Ion Implantation – Implantation technology – Modeling – Junction depth – Implantation systems

6. Film Deposition – Evaporation – Sputtering – Chemical Vapor Deposition – Epitaxy- Deposition Systems

7. Interconnections and Contacts – Integrated circuits – Interconnections – Contacts – Liftoff

8. Packaging and Yield – Testing – Die separation – Die attachment – Wire bonding – Packaging – Yield

Class/Laboratory Schedule

The class is laboratory based. The lecture meets twice a week for one hour followed by a two hour lab.

Professional Component

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ECE Program Outcomes

EE 407 supports the following Computer Engineering Outcomes:

ABET Credit Hours

Engineering Science: 2 credits

Engineering Design: 1 credit